Two Americans, a man from Poland, and a Bulgarian

         Well, Wednesday morning I left Katie and Debbie at about 10:00am to head to Bucharest with Pastor Nikolay. We have been anxiously awaiting and preparing for Brian Fentress and his musical partner, Jacek, to come and hold a gospel music seminar training and concert. We were planning to pick them up from the airport at five o’clock and then be back home by around seven in order to finish preparations for the seminar to start on Thursday. Shortly after leaving the house I realized we would need U.S currency to cross back over the Romanian border. Therefore, Pastor Nikolay took me back to the apartment where I was locked out. I could not even enter the building because the entrance was locked and I had left my keys with Katie. I called Debbie’s phone four or five times and then finally climbed over the fence to where the ground level apartment went around back, picked up five or six rocks, and began chucking rocks at our windows on the fourth floor! Finally, Katie came out with her head down. In minutes I was back to the car with the money, and an interesting journey had begun.

            It has been snowing here in Razgrad for a few days and so as we drove we were able to enjoy snow covered scenery with small walls of snow on each side of the road from the cleaning trucks. The trip to Bucharest was very uneventful. However, as we neared the airport it began to get slightly windy, snow started blowing across the road, and soon it started becoming a little harder to see. Still, we made to the airport in good time, and Brian and Jacek were waiting for us. Their plane was forced to circle several times, but had landed in fairly good time. We got back in the car, and as we drove out onto the road and headed back through Bucharest Pastor Nikolay looked over at me and said, “I do not like the weather Josh. It is not good.” This was the understatement of the year. It had begun to snow heavily and the wind was getting even stronger. It took us about an hour to get out of Bucharest and by the time we drove past the last building Pastor Nikolay and I were forced, for the first time, to get out of the car and beat the ice off of the windshield wipers. We got back in the car and continued to drive. Outside of Bucharest between the city and the Danube River the terrain is extremely flat, with no trees or hills of any kind. Therefore, as we departed from the city the wind become so severe that it began to push the car off the road, forcing everyone to slow considerably, and the combination of wind and snow made it impossible to see the car in front of you unless you were within ten feet of it! In this way we covered little ground in a lot of time. Finally, the traffic came to a stop. Pastor Nikolay got out of the car to break the ice off of the wipers again, and we waited. The snow around us was swirling in all directions and forming drifts all around us. Still, we were warm in the car and so we began inching forward little by little.

            Finally, the traffic began to move at a steady pace. We found the answer to our traffic jam as we passed an eighteen wheeler truck lying on its side across two lanes of traffic due to ice, with snow piled all around it in drifts. Still, we needed to get home and we thought maybe if we just kept pushing through we would be able to make it to the Danube River and into Bulgaria. We drove passed dozens of cars that had slid off the road into large snow drifts, we passed police cars blocking off all but the main roads, and even as we drove the wind began to get unbelievably stronger and it was becoming harder and harder to see by the minute.  We finally made it to a village outside of the Romanian city of Giurgiu. Here there is a small dip in the terrain. Therefore, the wind was not so bad here. However, as we departed from the city Pastor Nikolay informed us that the wind would be terrible when we reached the next upper plain, and that if we could make it off this next plane maybe we could get to the border. Within minutes we began ascending to the plain where we would spend the rest of the night and the next morning.

            When we reached the top the wind, snow, and cold were unlike anything I have ever seen. It was impossible to see more than five or ten feet in front of the vehicle, the wind was blowing hard enough to rock the car nearly off the road, and snow was deep enough that many times we thought we were stuck. Still, we made it a few miles before the car in front of us finally stopped, and within twenty minutes there was enough snow piled around the car to keep us from moving. Thus, our next several hours were spent sitting and waiting. Waiting for what? We did not know but we were stuck, had plenty of gas, and had our cell phones. Thus, we sat around talking and laughing about our good fortune while we waited.

            Soon Romanian rescue men began stopping by to ask us if we were warm and ok. If not they said we could come to the emergency vehicle and warm up. Their visits became more and more frequent. As the night wore on the snow began getting deeper and deeper, and ice became inches thick all over our car. We waited like this until around 4:00am when the Romanian rescuers finally came to our car and said that we had to evacuate. We were all asleep when all of a sudden a Romanian man in a black face mask banged on our window scaring us all to death! We could not decide if we wanted to leave the car, since all of Brian and Jacek’s bags were in the car. However, they decided just to take their computers in their backpacks and we got out of the car to make our way to the evacuation van.

            You cannot imagine what it was like to stand out in that weather! The wind was blowing so hard that it would quite literally blow you off your feet if you did not crouch down and put your shoulder against it. I stepped out of the truck and the breath was knocked out of me due to the extreme cold and the violence of the wind. We began making our way toward the evacuation van, and twice on our way there, a distance of about two hundred yards, I totally lost sight of those in front of me and behind me, hearing only their voices from about ten feet away. We walked with our hands in front of us and soon we were walking into snow drifts eight to ten feet in height! I have never seen such snow! Just as we came in sight of the evacuation van it began to drive away.

            The Romanian rescue crew informed us that it was full, that we would be the last to leave, and that we would need to either head back to our car or just stand here and wait about thirty minutes! It was too cold. Brian knocked on the cab of a truck and begged to be let in only to have the door slammed in his face. We told the rescue men that our car was too far and when they saw that Brian had no gloves or proper shoes they guided us to a fire truck, and we all piled in the cab with six Romanian fire fighters for the next thirty minutes. Brian immediately stripped off his shoes and socks and started to rub his feet while praying for God not to take his feet because he loves dancing and shouting too much. The Romanian fire fighters wrapped their jackets around his feet to keep him warm and we waited.

            Finally, a rescue man knocked on the door and told us we needed to hurry and get to the evacuation van that had just returned. We all jumped out and began making our way in that direction as quickly as possible. On the way there I heard Brian yell for us to wait, and so I turned to see if they were still behind us. When I turned my left foot slipped and the wind caught me. It picked me up and I fell to the ground. When I landed the road was covered with an inch of ice and the wind was blowing me under a truck! I could not stop myself until finally I was able to grab hold of the tire of the truck and pull myself back up to continue jogging in the direction of the evacuation van.

            When we arrived we jumped into a small van with windows tinted too black to see out. The seats were facing one another and ice covered the inside windows as well as the outside. There were no seat belt buckles, but it was fairly warm and we knew we were at least getting out of the weather! The driver jumped in along with one other rescue man and we began driving. We were just beginning to talk about our next move when suddenly we felt the van spin out of control and stop suddenly. Moments later the driver kicked open his door and jumped and of the van! We were not sure what to do. Pastor Nikolay leaned forward to see what was going on and when he did the whole van began teetering back and forth as if we were on the edge of a precipice. The Romanian roads have a huge ditch on each side for the snow when it is cleaned off the road. These ditches can be ten feet deep! We could not see but I assume this is what we were stuck on. We all sat there not moving or breathing, when finally the driver jumped back in, we all leaned back, and he punched the gas in reverse. We were able to get back on the road and soon discovered that we were being taken to the city of Giurgiu to wait for the end of the storm and the clearing of the roads.

            When we got to Giurgiu we were asked where we wanted to be dropped off. We told them that we wanted to go to the police, but they told us they would take us to a hotel. We did not know where our car was, we did not know how to find out when we would need to go back, and we did not have any Romanian currency. Still, they did not want to bother the police. We kept telling them this is what we needed until they became angry and told us they were just going to take us to the border! However, when they stopped we were at the police station! Praise the Lord!

            I was the last in line as we filed into the police station, and as I looked ahead of myself to Brian, Jacek, and Pastor Nikolay I saw that Brian had walked past the entrance counter, the offices, and the second entrance and had sat on the floor, pulled off his socks and shoes, and put his bare feet on the heater in the back room of the police station. I did not know what to do! As I looked around at all of the police officers in the room who were gaping at Brian I put up my hands in a gesture of helplessness and said, “He is American.” They all smiled and looked up, and invited us all in. They put us in a heated room farther back and finally after receiving our passports took us to the chief of police.

            We were led to a large office with a twenty foot ceiling and we were seated in front of the chief’s desk. Before we had time to worry about this change of events he slid a plate of oranges in front of us, several cups of hot tea, and with a smile told us that he would help us in any way he could. This man took us to a grocery store where we bought food since none of us had eaten in the past twenty-four hours, and then he took us to the place where we would stay. It ended up being a room with ten steel beds and no heat. It was free and it was on the third floor of a Romanian building for the housing of immigrants seeking political asylum.  It was free and it was a roof over our heads. When we were left in our room I laid down for about an hour. After about three or four hours at the immigration building the police chief called us and told us that our car had been dug out. The police took us to it, and then gave us a private escort to the border which had just opened. Within four hours we were pulling into Razgrad praising the Lord for his grace and divine hand in helping us through our little adventure. I will never look at snow quite the same way ever again.

            Just so you all know Pastor Nikolay, Brian, Jacek, and I made the national Bulgarian news. While at the immigration building Brian and Jacek were interviewed and they told our story. The next day we were on both the Romanian and Bulgarian news: “Two Americans, a man from Poland, and a Bulgarian trapped in the storm!” I am blessed to have so many people praying for me and I thank you all for praying for me and all of our safe return.  

Pictures of the Return trip to Romania and back!                           

The road to the Romanian border.

Entering Romania, crossing the Danube River.

Left to Right: The EU, Romanian, and Bulgarian flags.

Driving through Romania!

Snow piled on the sides of the road from cleaning off the snow!

Just across the Danube in Romania there are miles and miles of flat and barren land, 

which adds to the force of the wind and snow!

There and back again! Safely dropped off at the airport.

They were all three very happy with the uneventful return trip!

Brian and Jacek showing their better half.

Saying farewell to the fellas.

This picture shows the depth of the snow. 

Notice that the snow is not just on the side, but also in front of the truck. 

This is very close to where our car was located when we were evacuated.

The Bulgarian side of the Danube River!

A foggy evening on the Danube.

I will post more about the gospel seminar, concert, and our week in the following days. I just wanted to share this little adventure with you before I forgot some of the details. Thanks again for your prayers! 

Mercy and Peace,

Joshua C. Haun